To My Kindergartener:

Dear Isaac,

Your birthday is so late in the summer, we didn't know what to do about Kindergarten?  Should you start one week after you turned 5?  Or, one week after you turned 6?

I was leaning toward waiting until you were 6.  You weren't a big fan of being away from me for pre-school.  Why not wait one more year?

But, then I found out about a Montessori charter school opening up about 15-minutes to the North of us, and I couldn't resist registering you there.  I have been so excited for this opportunity, that I almost forgot what a big milestone it is to send you off to school.  One year sooner than I always thought too.

On the first day of school, we dressed you up in your new polo and blue Docker's.  You insisted on taking the fuzzy orange backpack you've had since you were 2 instead of the more grown-up school backpack I bought for you.  That's O.K.  The other one is too big and grown-up for you anyway.  

You woke up in the morning full of anticipation, asking at breakfast when it would be time for school.  You could hardly wait until after lunch.  All morning I could see your emotions rocking between excitement and nervousness.  

When we finally pulled up to the school and your teacher came to the curb to get you out of the car, you jumped out and followed the crowd inside without even looking back to wave "goodbye".  As I pulled away, a teensy bit of sadness washed over me.  But, then I thought about how amazing this school is, and how lucky I feel that you get to go there, and about how I really feel that this is exactly what you need right now (or, as you would say, "in this minute").  Then, the sadness disappeared.

A few weeks ago, when we dropped Ian off at his piano lesson you turned to me and said, "Are you glad he's gone now?  Do you want him to go away?"  I hope you know that I do miss you, my little blue-eyed spirited child, when you are gone to school.  But, just like I know Ian is learning good things at his lesson, I know you are learning good things at school.

Like the way you explained the process of humans converting oxygen into carbon dioxide and plants turning it back into oxygen followed by an explanation what it means to be proactive on the drive home the other day.  

In other news, I don't want to forget that earlier this week you told me if I didn't get you a cup of milk "in this minute" I was going to be fired.  You paused for a second while we stared at each other, and then said, "That's it.  You're fired." 

I love your crazy antics, your growing vocabulary, and the way you laugh at everything.  I love the way you sometimes grab my arm and give it a little kiss out of the blue.  I love how you notice everything.  I hope you never lose your creativity. 

Love, 

Mom  

Indiana: Day 7 The End

We drove to an Amish town and spent the afternoon rummaging through antiques at a flea market and oohing and aahing over their fine handmade furniture and intricate hand stitched quilts.  I found a lovely apron and when it was rung up my Pappa insisted on paying for it and told me to think of him whenever I wore it. 

After another delicious lunch of Southern comfort foods and another amazing dessert feast, we made our way to Indianapolis to Drop my Aunt Linda off at the airport.

We killed another couple of hours at a huge mall downtown, mostly shopping for fun jewelry at Forever 21.

And, then it was our turn to go to the airport, to say our goodbyes and begin the long flight back to our homes.  Home, where Brian had had his own fun over the weekend running the Wasatch Back Relay while his parents kept the kids.  Home where he had taken our kids out for a fun night at Boondocks and other exciting adventures to pass the time while I was away.  And, to my home sweet home where Brian and the kids had tidied up the basement, washed all of the dishes and mopped all of the floors before they retired to their beds awaiting my arrival.

I'm so grateful I got to go to this family reunion.  It meant a lot to me every time my Pappa looked at little Katie and proclaimed, "What a doll!"  And, it was fun to see him approach strangers everywhere we went to tell them that he was there with all four of his children and his granddaughter and great-granddaughter and then he would line my mom and Katie and me up along side him and show everyone what four generations looks like.  

Indiana: Day 6 Indoor Water Park

After a relaxing Sunday at home, we were right back to party mode.  We wanted to go to Holiday World, a large theme park, but the forecast for the weather was 99-degrees with lots of humidity and a heat index of 105.  We decided we'd be better off indoors and went instead of a giant indoor water park.  

There were two huge slides that were the most fun.  We attacked them over and over in pairs on double inner-tubes.  One of them took us down a drastic incline and then spit us out into a giant bowl where we rode round and round until we slowed down and reached the middle where we were sucked down another drastic incline to the bottom.  My mom said it was like getting flushed down a toilet bowl.

The other was a dark tube that spun us round and round violently and then turned glowing red towards the end.  It was like being cast down into the dark and fiery underworld.  

There was also a lazy river and a giant water playland.  But, my other favorite part (besides the big slides) was the kiddie pool with swings and a tiny slide that Miss Katie went down dozens of times.  On this day, Katie really warmed up to all of the grown ups and I loved watching them take turns playing with her in the water.

That night, we had a BBQ back at the house and a little bit of sadness as we contemplated our last night together on this dream vacation.

As dusk approached, my Pappa and I took Katie out to my Aunt's lovely front porch where I liked to sit and stare out over the wheat field lined with trees next to their home.  The lingering heat and humidity of the day had us dripping in no time.  Soon, little flickers just above the lawn began to light up with a magical glow.  The fireflies were out.  And, they were every bit as charming as I remembered them.  I tried to memorize their orange, yellow and green flashes.  To memorize that moment.  And, especially to save in my mind the image of my Pappa following my baby girl up and down the street on that lovely, sweet evening.

Indiana: Day 5 Father's Day

Sunday we woke up to find the dining room table covered with gifts.  

Most notably:

My aunt found a lady who repurposes clothing into adorable teddy bears.  She had taken some of my Mamma's favorite dresses and had them sewn into bears for all of the siblings.  And, my cousin Marc had taken some of my Mamma's old scarves and pendants and framed them together in shadow boxes.  

Jewelry art.  

What clever ways to memorialize some of my Mamma's beautiful possessions into new treasures.

There were also Father's Day gifts and of course some gag gifts to keep with our theme for the week of non-stop laughter.   My Pappa honored all of the mothers with gifts and said, "there would be no fathers if it weren't for the mothers."  A Father's Day first.

I made blueberry buttermilk pancakes with bacon for breakfast and chocolate chip cookies at lunch.  For dinner, we BBQ'd and had another huge spread of food.

That evening we took a drive around Washington, Indiana, the small town where my Aunt and Uncle live, to admire the houses and be amazed by the gigantic yards that stretched on as large as city parks.

Then, my darling cousin, Tara, gave me a pedicure complete with delicate flowers.  The perfect way to get ready for our Day 6 Adventure:  Chillaxin' at The Pool.

Indiana: Day 4 At the Lake

My Pappa is a hard act to follow.  Even with his 87th birthday coming up next week, he still attends dances three or more evenings per week.  And he dances every single dance.  He dances for hours.  The man has a lot of energy.  So, of course he was on board for a day at a gorgeous lake.

My uncle rented a double decker party barge with a waterslide for a long day of relaxation and laughs.  You can probably guess that once we got out on the lake, my aunts and uncles were all cannon balls and crazy screams into the water. They went down the slide over and over and hooted and splashed all around like a big group of kids.  Being around all of that crazy happiness was enough to make anyone have a great time.  Katie, unimpressed by the warm, crystal clear lake water, dozed lazily on the lower shady deck while the adults took turns swimming.

I bet my Pappa was thinking about taking his family and their boat to Kentucky Lake when he was a young father.  He taught my mom to ski when she was just five-years-old by standing her in the water and pulling her with a rope while he ran along the shore.  He use to waterski behind the boat with two of his daughters standing on his shoulders.  I think the trips to the lake really brought my mom's family together.  I noticed there were lots of memories of Kentucky Lake shared at the reunion.

After a day of exhilerating fun in the water, we stopped by an ice-cream stand known for their towering soft serve cones.  I ordered the medium which, no lie, was stacked about 12-inches off my cone.  They also sell large and jumbo (about 18-inches of ice-cream I'm told), which I can't imagine since it took all of my concentration just to eat the medium before it melted in the sweltering summer heat of Indiana.

Have you ever had a day you wished would never end?  That was how I felt on this day at Patoka Lake.

Indiana: Day 3 Gorgeous Architecture

We visited two monasteries (Ferdinand and St. Meinrad Cassimo Chapel) and two hotels (French Lick and West Baden) built in the late 1800's - early 1900's and immaculately restored. They had towering domes, intricate tile mosaics, larger than life paintings, and ornate detail like I've only seen in Europe. Who knew such treasures existed in Indiana?

One of the hotels housed a hot spring (Pluto) dubbed the world's largest laxative (hehehe). We all took pictures of the sign that said, "When nature won't, Pluto will."

Dinner was Chicago style pizza which my Pappa swears was the best he's eaten in his whole life. Which is saying a lot since he's had such a long life.

Two more of my cousins joined us - Marc from St. Louis and Neal from Tennessee. Marc travels the country training sales associates and lives in a house with a pool. Hmmm . . . thinking the kids and I need to visit said pool. Neal has been bringing down the Nashville scene as a musician. Neal brought along his charming girlfriend of six years, Kelly the massage therapist (yes, she gave me a free shoulder rub that was heavenly). 

I don't get to see them very often and of course we conjured up memories of summer days spent in Mamma's attic playing truth or dare with our large circle of cousins. There were also the times we rode Marc and Neal's mini motorcycles around and around their giant backyard. 

And, we thought about movies at the little theater in smalltown Pinckneyville, Illinois that gave free refills on all sizes of popcorn and drinks. I thought I was so clever buying the small and taking advantage of unlimited refills until leaving the movies so many times got old and I upgraded to the medium. 

When we were teens, we would watch crazy videos every night, like "Night of the Living Dead." Good times.

This time, we made new memories with wii dance and rock band competitions. Way more classy.

(especially when all of my aunts and I danced in our pajamas)

Indiana: Day 2 On the Road Home

My Uncle Ronnie looks like a dignified Sean Connery.  And, he loves baseball.  He still coaches little league teams even though his own son is an adult.  

On Thursday, our second day in Indiana, my Aunt Terry surprised us with a treat she called "going home."  Going home meant going south to Kentucky, where my mom lived until she was 17-years-old.  Our first stop of the day was the Indiana's Baseball Hall of Fame in Jasper.

We also saw a grand looking courthouse in Boonsville, Indiana.

We meandered through Madisonville, Kentucky and saw the old grocery store where my mom got chocolate ice-cream as a child.

For me, the highlight of the day was arriving at the picturesque Good Hope Cemetery where my Mamma is buried.  I guess I am related to almost every person resting in that quiet little grove in Kentucky.  But, dear to my heart is my Mamma.  An angel.  A sweet, sweet lady.  It was a special moment when my Pappa offered a prayer in that sacred spot.

Then we drove by my Great Mamma's house.  Or, at least what was left of it.  My mom described a majestic wooden home with a wrap around porch, frilly decor, old fashioned wallpaper, a wooden staircase that led to the second level where she liked to play in the cozy corners created by the bumped out windows at either end.  I had never been to the house before, but what we found was a dilapidated mess, literally falling down, behind a mess of tall weeds.

It seemed to reinforce the temporary state of our mortality.  

The end of the day brought my mom's best surprise.  My Aunt Terry had coordinated with a huge group of my mom's aunts, uncles and cousins to meet us at the Country Cupboard, a restaurant in Kentucky for dinner.  She even tracked down my mom's best friend from her childhood (they lost touch about 15 years ago).

The food.  Again with the food.  I gained five pounds on that trip.  How do I even describe the food?  It was an amazing buffet of every southern dish imaginable.  The dessert bar was unprecedented with every kind of homemade cake, and pies beautifully topped with meringue six-inches high.

Indiana: Day 1 Getting There

The other day, I was talking to my sister-in-law and she said, "Your parents are special people.  They are so giving and forgiving and really kind."  That is the truth.  I feel really lucky.  They are exceptional.  And, that is one of the reasons I was so stoked to be able to book tickets on the same flight with them and head to Indiana for a family reunion last month.  

They shuttled Katie Jane and me to the airport early on a Wednesday morning.  We didn't get seats together on the airplane, but, thanks to accommodating passengers, we were able to sit together for most of our flights.  

Here's a story about that:  

Flying from Denver to Indianapolis, my dad was assigned to sit in a seat about twenty rows ahead of my mom and me.  When we asked the lady in the seat next to me to trade with him, we discovered that my dad's seat was right next to her husband. What are the chances of that?

We arrived in Indianapolis Wednesday afternoon and met my Pappa and my mom's sister, Linda, at the airport.  My mom's brother, Roger, collected our group at the curb in a sweet, plush, comfortable van that was our ride for the rest of the week. 

Man, I loved being chauffeured around in that van.  I could read, take naps, laugh at the bedlam happening in the backseat or admire the scenery as it passed by the giant window at my side.  And, when I started to look tired it was like, "Here Amy, how about a pillow?"  Or, if I looked thirsty then it was, "Here's an icy cooler, how about a cold drink."  This trip was all about living in the lap o luxury.  

We drove from Indianapolis to Washington, Indiana (about 90 minutes south) to the reunion headquarters - my Uncle Roger and Aunt Terry's lovely home.  Did I mention that my Aunt Terry sent me a birthday card every year when I was growing up? She did.  And, lots of times there was a little gift too.  So sweet.  And, my Uncle Roger is still just as funny as I remember.  He's a funny, funny guy.

After settling in and having the grand tour of the home (my favorite part was the covered porch stretching along the length of the front of the house lined with chairs) the first of a flurry of fine meals was laid out before us.  Tender BBQ pork, fresh corn on the cob, homemade coleslaw, potato salad, fruit salad, pasta salad, my Mamma's famous pecan pie (made by my Aunt Terry since my dear Mamma passed away nearly twelve years ago), and homemade citrus cake with thick icing.  Wow, was it delicious.  We ate and talked and talked and ate until late into the night.

At dusk, my cousin, Tara, brought in a jar of lightening bugs.  Seeing that jar took me right back to my childhood when we use to visit my Mamma and Pappa in Illinois every other summer and collect those magical flying bugs by trapping them in jars. 

I remember one summer in particular, I was probably about seven, when we filled a jar half full of those critters.  That was a bad idea and by morning they were mostly dead.  But, I can see them in that jar on my Mamma's kitchen counter just like it was yesterday.  Clear as anything, I can see my brothers and my sister and I sleeping in the front room of that little house, listening to the train whistle blowing by all night long.  By day we would ride bikes to the train tracks and smash pennies.  I can see it and hear it.  I can smell it too.  It was the same smell in my Aunt and Uncle's Indiana garage -- hot wood in humidity.  

Thoughts on Indiana

Earlier this summer, in June, I flew to Washington Indiana where I had a fabulous week of basking in the non-stop laughter of my mom's side of the family.

Now, when I think of Indiana, I think of the color green.  Bright and happy.  Lots of leafy trees.  Winding roads lined with quaint homes and mowed lawns as big as city parks.

Washington, Indiana, the city where I stayed is south of Indianapolis.  It is cozy, rural and small.  There was a new adventure every day, but the best part by far was the company and the way we all laughed all day every day.

  

Sticking it to the Man . . . Or, Something Like That

I am back after a long summer with no internet.

That's right. No internet people.

We don't have a home phone or T.V. and it turns out that when you don't "bundle" you end up paying a wholeheckalot for just the internet. At least I think $60/mo. is a lot. Or, at least I did think that.

So, around about June we canceled. I said, "Why are we paying for something we can get for free?" As in, there are free wi-fi hot spots everywhere.

I soon learned that I do not need the internet. However, I really, really want it.

As I said, we don't have T.V. It turns out the internet is a great source of entertainment. I missed it.

I also needed to look something up every time I turned around. For example, I would need a phone number and naturally I would want to turn to dexknows. Then, I would have to stop and think, "How did I look up phone numbers in my pre-internet life? (pause) Oh, yes, the phone book." But, wait, that hugemongous thing only covers the cities right next to me. What about Salt Lake phone numbers? What about out of state?

Or, what if I needed to look up the signs of a concussion? (don't ask) Or, find out for my four-year-old if spiders eat bees? What? Go to the Library and peruse the reference section?

Please.

I quickly learned that, not only is it highly inconvenient to leave your house to use the internet (in light of the dozens of times each day that I needed or sometimes really did need to look things up), but, I was also never going to be able to use a free wi-fi hot spot.

For example, I took the kids to McD's thinking they could play on the playland. There was a family (who I'm pretty sure had been there for at least 2 hours and I'm pretty sure were staying for at least 2 more) sitting by the only outlet so I only had about 30 minutes of battery power. Do you think my kids happily played while I hurridly crammed the twelve hours of internet time I desired into a precious 30 minutes? Of course not. Every 60 seconds it was either, "Mom look at me!" Or, a fight. Or, a question. Or, an owie. Or, an attempted escape.

Sometimes I could pull my laptop out for 5 minutes at the library. But, you can't send and receive e-mail at the library. So, then I would resort to walking to my dear neighbor lady's house five doors down to send and receive e-mails. I didn't want to bug her, so I would sit on her front porch (I could get the signal out there). But, really, that just felt weird.

At one time, I started missing it so much. But, I was still determined that $70/mo was just too much. We researched other options and didn't find anything suitable. So, I called Comcast and said, "I want the internet back, but your price is too high." They did not offer to cut their price just for me, just because I spoke up about how I felt. Sigh.

The only redeeming thing about taking the summer off from the internet was being able to avoid the incessant "Mom, can I have a computer turn?" questioning every single day from the time the kids woke up until they went to bed. We do have rules and they know the rules, but, they just love computer turns so much that they can't help themselves from asking. Just. In. Case.

At long last, near the end of August, we decided that internet is worth $70/mo. I mean, really it is. It's the world wide web for goodness sakes. It's every bit of information we could ever hope for right at our fingertips 24/7.

And, to soften the blow, we somehow got the 1/2-price deal for the first 6-months. I have to say, taking a summer off from the internet was a good little learning experience for all of us.

Thank heavens it's over.